Who is holding the keys? Authorship and the role of the reader in Itō Seikō’s Sonzai shinai shōsetsu and Back 2 Back

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between intertextuality and authorship in the creative oeuvre of contemporary Japanese writer Itō Seikō (born 1961), focusing on two short stories collections: Back 2 Back (2012), written collaboratively with philosopher Sasaki Ataru (born 1973), and Sonzai shinai shōsetsu (Stories that Do Not Exist, 2013). It provides a close overview of one particular story that appears in both collections under different titles – as story “Number Six” in Back 2 Back and “Atashi” in Sonzai shinai shōsetsu. The article argues that comparing the stories might shed some light on how they employ the concept of the death of the author. Both versions question the roles of the author and reader in interpreting a text but approach this theoretical issue differently. Story “Number Six” from Back 2 Back uses the images of a fictional author and reader as adults, highlighting the power inequality between them and portraying the reader as more powerful than the author. In contrast, “Atashi” employs a similar motif but inverts it humorously, making both the author and the reader appear equally clueless about their supposed roles. It accomplishes this by depicting them as children who mimic the same debate from a different angle and thus showcase its inherent fluidity. The article compares the interactions between fictional authors and readers in both stories through the lens of Roland Barthes’ concept of the death of the author. In this comparison, “Atashi” is perceived as a rewrite of story “Number Six.”